<s>
Ghostscript	B-Language
is	O
a	O
suite	O
of	O
software	O
based	O
on	O
an	O
interpreter	B-Application
for	O
Adobe	O
Systems	O
 '	O
PostScript	B-Language
and	O
Portable	B-Application
Document	I-Application
Format	I-Application
(	O
PDF	B-Application
)	O
page	O
description	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
main	O
purposes	O
are	O
the	O
rasterization	O
or	O
rendering	O
of	O
such	O
page	O
description	O
language	O
files	O
,	O
for	O
the	O
display	O
or	O
printing	O
of	O
document	O
pages	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
conversion	O
between	O
PostScript	B-Language
and	O
PDF	B-Application
files	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostscript	B-Language
can	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
raster	B-Algorithm
image	I-Algorithm
processor	O
(	O
RIP	O
)	O
for	O
raster	O
computer	O
printers	O
—	O
for	O
instance	O
,	O
as	O
an	O
input	O
filter	O
of	O
line	B-Operating_System
printer	I-Operating_System
daemon	I-Operating_System
—	O
or	O
as	O
the	O
RIP	O
engine	O
behind	O
PostScript	B-Language
and	O
PDF	B-Application
viewers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
file	O
format	O
converter	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
PostScript	B-Language
to	O
PDF	B-Application
converter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ps2pdf	B-Language
conversion	O
program	O
comes	O
with	O
the	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
distribution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostscript	B-Language
can	O
also	O
serve	O
as	O
the	O
back-end	O
for	O
PDF	B-Application
to	O
raster	B-Algorithm
image	I-Algorithm
(	O
png	O
,	O
tiff	O
,	O
jpeg	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
converter	O
;	O
this	O
is	O
often	O
combined	O
with	O
a	O
PostScript	B-Language
printer	B-Application
driver	I-Application
in	O
"	O
virtual	B-Application
printer	I-Application
"	O
PDF	B-Application
creators	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
it	O
takes	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
a	O
language	O
interpreter	B-Application
,	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
general	O
purpose	O
programming	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostscript	B-Language
has	O
been	O
ported	O
to	O
many	O
operating	O
systems	O
,	O
including	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
,	O
classic	B-Application
Mac	I-Application
OS	I-Application
,	O
OpenVMS	B-Operating_System
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
Plan	B-Operating_System
9	I-Operating_System
,	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
FreeDOS	B-Application
,	O
OS/2	B-Application
,	O
ArcaOS	B-Device
,	O
Atari	B-Application
TOS	I-Application
,	I-Application
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
and	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostscript	B-Language
was	O
originally	O
written	O
by	O
L	O
.	O
Peter	O
Deutsch	O
for	O
the	B-Application
GNU	I-Application
Project	I-Application
,	O
and	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
in	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
,	O
Deutsch	O
formed	O
Aladdin	O
Enterprises	O
to	O
dual-license	B-License
Ghostscript	B-Language
also	O
under	O
a	O
proprietary	B-Application
license	I-Application
with	O
an	O
own	O
development	O
fork	B-Application
:	O
Aladdin	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
under	O
the	O
Aladdin	B-License
Free	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
(	O
which	O
,	O
despite	O
the	O
name	O
,	O
is	O
not	O
a	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
license	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
forbids	O
commercial	O
distribution	O
)	O
and	O
GNU	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
distributed	O
with	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
version	O
8.54	O
in	O
2006	O
,	O
both	O
development	O
branches	O
were	O
merged	O
again	O
,	O
and	O
dual-licensed	B-License
releases	O
were	O
still	O
provided	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostscript	B-Language
is	O
currently	O
owned	O
by	O
Artifex	B-Language
Software	I-Language
and	O
maintained	O
by	O
Artifex	B-Language
Software	I-Language
employees	O
and	O
the	O
worldwide	O
user	O
community	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Artifex	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
version	O
9.03	O
,	O
the	O
commercial	O
version	O
of	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
can	O
no	O
longer	O
be	O
freely	O
distributed	O
for	O
commercial	O
purposes	O
without	O
purchasing	O
a	O
license	O
,	O
though	O
the	O
(	O
A	O
)	O
GPL	B-License
variant	O
allows	O
commercial	O
distribution	O
provided	O
all	O
code	O
using	O
it	O
is	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
(	O
A	O
)	O
GPL	B-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2013	O
,	O
with	O
version	O
9.07	O
,	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
changed	O
its	O
license	O
from	O
GPLv3	O
to	O
GNU	B-Application
AGPL	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
release	O
9.55.0	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
has	O
two	O
build-in	O
PDF	B-Application
interpreters	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Until	O
spring	O
2022	O
,	O
up	O
to	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
version	O
9.56.1	O
,	O
the	O
default	O
PDF	B-Application
interpreters	B-Application
implementation	O
itself	O
was	O
coded	O
in	O
PostScript	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
default	O
PDF	B-Application
interpreter	B-Application
has	O
been	O
rewritten	O
in	O
C	B-Language
entirely	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
faster	O
and	O
more	O
secure	O
than	O
its	O
predecessor	O
,	O
while	O
its	O
interface	O
and	O
graphics	O
library	O
have	O
not	O
changed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scripting	O
the	O
new	O
C	B-Language
written	O
PDF	B-Application
interpreter	B-Application
from	O
PostScript	B-Language
is	O
still	O
possible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostscript	B-Language
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interfaces	I-Application
(	O
GUIs	B-Application
)	O
view	O
PostScript	B-Language
or	O
PDF	B-Application
files	I-Application
on	O
screens	O
,	O
scroll	O
,	O
page	O
forward	O
,	O
page	O
backward	O
,	O
zoom	O
text	O
,	O
and	O
print	O
pages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
GUIs	B-Application
include	O
Evince	B-Language
,	O
IrfanView	B-Protocol
,	O
Inkscape	B-Application
and	O
PDF24	B-Application
Creator	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	B-Application
printers	I-Application
can	O
also	O
create	O
PDF	B-Application
files	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
several	O
sets	O
of	O
free	B-Application
fonts	O
supplied	O
for	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
,	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
metrically	O
compatible	O
with	O
common	O
fonts	O
attached	O
with	O
the	O
PostScript	B-Language
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Contributed	O
by	O
German	O
foundry	O
URW++	O
in	O
1996	O
under	O
the	O
GPL	B-License
and	O
AFPL	B-License
,	O
this	O
collection	O
includes	O
35	O
font	O
styles	O
from	O
10	O
typeface	O
families	O
and	O
is	O
therefore	O
commonly	O
called	O
the	O
URW	O
Base	O
35	O
fonts	O
or	O
URW	O
Core	O
35	O
fonts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
collection	O
is	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
35	O
fonts	O
defined	O
by	O
Adobe	O
in	O
PostScript	B-Language
Level	O
2	O
:	O
Bookman	O
L	O
(	O
Bookman	O
)	O
,	O
Century	O
Schoolbook	O
L	O
(	O
New	O
Century	O
Schoolbook	O
)	O
,	O
Chancery	O
L	O
(	O
Zapf	O
Chancery	O
)	O
,	O
Dingbats	O
(	O
Zapf	O
Dingbats	O
)	O
,	O
Gothic	O
L	O
(	O
Avant	O
Garde	O
)	O
,	O
Nimbus	O
Mono	O
L	O
(	O
Courier	O
)	O
,	O
Nimbus	O
Roman	O
No9	O
L	O
(	O
Times	O
)	O
,	O
Nimbus	O
Sans	O
L	O
(	O
Helvetica	O
)	O
,	O
Palladio	O
L	O
(	O
Palatino	O
)	O
,	O
Standard	O
Symbols	O
L	O
(	O
Symbol	O
)	O
,	O
in	O
Type1	O
,	O
TrueType	O
,	O
and	O
OpenType	O
formats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GhostPDL	B-Language
package	O
(	O
including	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
as	O
well	O
as	O
companion	O
implementations	O
of	O
HP	B-Language
PCL	I-Language
and	O
Microsoft	B-Device
XPS	I-Device
)	O
includes	O
additional	O
fonts	O
under	O
the	O
AFPL	B-License
which	O
bars	O
commercial	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Combined	O
with	O
the	O
base	O
set	O
,	O
they	O
represent	O
a	O
little	O
more	O
than	O
half	O
of	O
the	O
standard	O
PostScript	B-Language
3	O
font	O
complement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
miscellaneous	O
set	O
including	O
Cyrillic	O
,	O
kana	O
,	O
and	O
fonts	O
derived	O
from	O
the	O
free	B-Application
Hershey	O
fonts	O
,	O
with	O
improvements	O
by	O
Thomas	O
Wolff	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
adding	O
accented	O
characters	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
fonts	O
were	O
developed	O
in	O
the	O
PostScript	B-Language
Type	O
1	O
format	O
but	O
have	O
been	O
converted	O
into	O
the	O
TrueType	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
a	O
user	O
can	O
install	O
and	O
use	O
the	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
fonts	O
via	O
most	O
modern	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
the	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
fonts	O
are	O
used	O
as	O
parts	O
of	O
various	O
open	O
source	O
applications	O
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
the	O
Linux	O
version	O
of	O
GIMP	B-Application
depends	O
on	O
Graphviz	B-Language
which	O
in	O
turn	O
depends	O
on	O
the	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
fonts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finally	O
,	O
multiple	O
open	O
source	O
font	O
projects	O
used	O
glyphs	O
from	O
the	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
fonts	O
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
the	O
Latin	O
characters	O
of	O
GNU	O
FreeFont	O
are	O
based	O
on	O
Nimbus	O
Mono	O
L	O
,	O
Nimbus	O
Roman	O
No9	O
L	O
,	O
and	O
Nimbus	O
Sans	O
L	O
.	O
The	O
TeX	O
Gyre	O
fonts	O
are	O
also	O
based	O
on	O
8	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
10	O
original	O
Ghostscript	B-Language
typeface	O
families	O
.	O
</s>
